THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 29, 1995 TAG: 9501260174
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: Medium: 99 lines
WHILE NATIONAL leaders wring their hands over the the American health care crisis, two Manteo High School students are doing what they can to solve the problem, with oranges and blue jeans.
Jennifer Snow and Laura Dunn are raising money for North Carolina's Caring for Children Program, a statewide initiative that provides health care coverage for children who have ``fallen through the cracks'' in the health care system. The teenagers are trying to help members of families that make too much money to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to be able to afford private insurance.
There are 264,000 children in North Carolina without basic coverage. There are 606 children waiting to join the Caring for Children program.
Currently, seven children in Dare County are on the waiting list. Snow, a 17-year-old senior, and Dunn, a 16-year-old junior, are trying to raise enough money to provide coverage for those children.
The idea to raise the money for the coverage came through the students' involvement in DECA, a national association of marketing students.
Susan Lee, marketing teacher at Manteo and the DECA sponsor, said the students began discussing the idea after finding out about the Caring program from another Manteo faculty member, Jennie Rook.
``Jennifer, Laura and I had started talking about a civic consciousness project,'' Lee said. ``Jennie Rook mentioned this to us. With health care such an issue, and with 226,000 children without basic coverage, and with so many people in Dare County struggling to get by, we thought it was a great project.''
Under the Caring for Children program, $264 will provide a year's worth of basic coverage. Snow and Dunn hope to raise the $1,848 needed to provide coverage for those on Dare County's waiting list. The two have raised more than $1,200.
They say the work they have done has changed their perspective on the health care problem.
``I come from a middle class family,'' Snow said ``We have health coverage. I think working in this program helps me to better understand some of the difficult circumstances that many people in our country live in.''
``I just take (health care) for granted because we've always had it,'' Dunn said. ``I'm just very thankful, and glad we could help.''
Snow and Dunn have sold citrus fruit, and designated Fridays in the month of January as ``Show You Care'' Day. For a $1 donation, faculty members could wear casual clothes to work. They have also received private donations, and placed cannisters for donations in about 20 local businesses.
The students say they do not know the children they will help through their efforts, but to them, that's unimportant.
``We don't know who the kids are,'' said Snow. ``But it makes me feel good about helping people we don't know. At Christmas, we worked with the Angel Tree project buying clothes for the children in that program. We got a lot from that, even though we didn't know the children. It's the same thing in trying to provide insurance.
``People shouldn't stereotype teenagers,'' Snow said. ``We want to try to do something to help the community. It's fun for us.''
Susan Lee, as the mother of a 3-year-old, knows the value of health insurance.
``I've had my own experience,'' Lee said. ``My 3-year-old has had two surgeries. But we were fortunate enough to have insurance. Without it, the cost would have been about $351,000.''
She added, ``We would like to see the project continue. We're going to continue to raise money because there will continue to be children in Dare County who have a need.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by DREW C. WILSON
Manteo High students Jennifer Snow, right, and Laura Dunn,
collaborated on a health care project.
Chart
WAITING LISTS
Here is a list of counties in northeastern North Carolina with
children on the waiting list for the Caring for Children program as
of July 15, 1994:
Beaufort..........4
Camden............1
Currituck.........5
Dare..............7
Hyde..............2
Pasquotank........7
Perquimans........1
Tyrrell...........2
Washington........1
HOW TO GIVE
Contributions for the Dare County Caring For Children effort can
be mailed to Caring for Children, in care of Manteo High School,
P.O. Box 280, Manteo, N.C., 27954, or call Susan Lee at 473-5841.
by CNB